Papa Murphy’s abruptly closes Texarkana store after nearly 20 years; staff got days of notice

TEXARKANA, Texas — Papa Murphy’s Take ‘N’ Bake Pizza at 3421 Richmond Road served its last customers this weekend, ending a run in Texarkana that store manager Jacob Owney said stretched back to 2006 — and ending it fast. Employees were given only about two to three days’ notice before the doors closed for good.

The store was operated by the Tom Lovelace Company, the largest franchise operator in the Papa Murphy’s system with roughly 96 locations nationwide. Owney said the decision came down to sales — the company “wanted to get out of Texarkana” — and that the Richmond Road store is the only location the group is closing. Its other stores will remain open.

The abrupt shutdown stung, Owney said, because the store’s small crew was performing well by the measures the company set for it.

“As of the store closing, I had four active employees — all very great people,” he said. “We ran really great numbers for what we had going on, always hitting food costs, labor, stuff like that.”

Owney said he’s now looking for another job.

Breaking the news to regulars

Owney said the hardest part was the customers. When he learned the store was closing, he personally called some of his regulars to tell them — including one whose situation he knew well: a mother whose disabled child would only eat Papa Murphy’s pizza.

“I called her, of course, because I knew her situation,” Owney said. “I was like, hey, you know, I’m sorry to tell you.” He said he gave her tips so she can try making her own pizza at home for her child.

In the store’s final days, he invited some longtime customers in and gave them discounts as a send-off.

“It was definitely a pleasure to serve everybody. I had a lot of fun here,” he said. “I got to meet a lot of lovely, lovely people.”

Part of a shrinking national footprint

The Texarkana closure lands amid a sharp contraction for Papa Murphy’s nationwide. The chain’s parent company, Canada-based MTY Food Group, announced in July that it will close 68 underperforming corporate-owned restaurants over the next six to nine months, with up to 50 of those expected to be Papa Murphy’s locations. CEO Eric Lefebvre told investors the stores selected for closure had lost a combined $10 million over the previous 12 months.

Papa Murphy’s has been shrinking for several years. According to the company’s franchise disclosure documents, its store count fell from 1,168 restaurants in 2023 to 1,014 in 2025.

The broader pizza industry is retreating, too. Pizza Hut announced earlier this year it would close 250 underperforming U.S. locations in the first half of 2026, and Papa Johns said in February it plans to shutter roughly 300 stores by the end of 2027, citing rising operating costs and shifting consumer spending.

Papa Murphy’s, founded in 1981 in the Pacific Northwest, built its brand on the take-and-bake model: fresh pizzas made in-store that customers bake at home. The chain still operates locations in nearly 40 states.